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Every year, summing up all the results, we offer you a selection of the best materials in the opinion of the editors. This time we decided to expand this format a little and instead of individual articles we chose several key series. But the essence remains the same: below you will find the materials that determined 2024 for Motor – those that we ourselves would not want to miss.

Story

Let’s start right away with why readers return to Motor. We have “software” articles about cars, people and phenomena, without which the automotive world would be different. For example, why the Nürburgring is so important, what the Triple Crown of motorsport is and why we think so highly of Steve McCuckin.

This year we talked about the global fuel crisis of 1973, which forever changed the global auto industry. And for most American muscle cars, it became something like a meteorite for dinosaurs – the reason for their extinction.

The main thing about the global fuel crisis Cars-anniversaries 2024: the best of the year Results 2024: the best test drives of the Motor

In 2024, many articles have again appeared on Motor, from which one day, we hope, it will be possible to compile the first ever encyclopedia for fascinating reading. Although it will be very good as a reference book! Mikhail Kononchuk worked on several important pages. Perhaps this was the first time you heard about Kaiser Darrin, you probably had no idea what drama was behind the Monteverdi brand and you probably didn’t think of the Bugatti Royale as a huge failure.

Kaiser-Darrin: corvette failure Monteverdi vs Ferrari Not everything kings can do. What did the great Bugatti Royale fail to do?

People

The “Person” section is often updated with articles on sad occasions. This year the world said goodbye to two great designers. Marcello Gandini – a superstar, rebel, visionary, and Bruno Sacco – a system heavyweight, a kind of philosopher of automotive design. We also paid tribute to Peter Stevens – he is alive and well, and is known mainly for his work on the McLaren F1.

Marcello Gandini: a modest rebel The man who made Mercedes as we know it has died You won’t guess what other cars the McLaren F1 designer created

Undeservedly forgotten

Each automotive power has its own business cards. And there are also undeservedly forgotten models. We decided to collect them in this series: to remind you of little-known sports cars from Italy, even lesser-known sports cars from Great Britain, and even charismatic driver’s cars from the USA that were not heard of.

Palace secrets: unknown British sports cars Unknown Americans Masterpieces in oblivion: unknown Italian sports cars

World culture

Sometimes reporting from events of the highest automotive society resembles a trip to a museum. This could definitely be said about the gallery from Villa d’Este or the very special report from the Goodwood Festival of Speed. A much more relaxed atmosphere reigns at the Technoclassics exhibition in Essen. Well, the Japanese festival Nostalgic 2Days seems “warm, lamp-like”.

Automotive treasures of Villa d’Este Aerodynamic tricks from different eras Techno Classica Essen: retro in German

What about Russia? The largest event of the year was Garage Fest at the Igora Drive circuit in St. Petersburg. Traditionally, its prominent part was the Autoculture exposition. The authors of “Motor” not only spoke at the lecture hall, but also arrived at the festival as part of the classic Garage Rally in a 1984 Audi Coupe GT.

Nostalgia in Japanese: automotive JDM-exotics Autoculture 2024: classics on the march How the largest auto festival in Russia, “Garage Fest 2024”, went

With my own eyes

Let’s refrain from making jokes about gonzo journalism, but let’s admit: it’s always more interesting for us to participate than to watch from the sidelines. And there is something! Dmitry Laskov made an epic jump on the Tank 500 – and this “flight of the hippopotamus” was just one of the episodes of the huge Chinese off-road festival. Yes, yes, China already has an off-road culture! And stopping by her holiday is a huge success!

And in general, the year of the test editor turned out to be eventful. To begin with, Dmitry Laskov took part in the winter Race of Champions, which is considered fundamentally impossible to prepare for. I also tried myself in such a discipline as endurance karting.

Alexander Tychinin also worked at Motor as a test editor, and last year he acted as a “guest star”: he drove the famous Silk Road rally raid in the “civilian” Grand Tour competition. And it’s worth reading!

A grandiose off-road festival in the Chinese desert How to defeat all the Silk Road champions on Tank 300

Exclusive

These materials can hardly be called test drives. Let’s just say that Mikhail Kononchuk had a chance to join. It’s one thing to simply write about the glorious cars of the past, but quite another to drive a Jensen Interceptor and BMW Z8. But Andrei Motorov was not allowed to drive the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge. In the “Forgotten Concepts” section, the editor-in-chief recalls how just ten years ago the world of super sedans almost went on different tracks. And why, in fact, didn’t he leave?

Trinity. Test drive Jensen Interceptor And time is not enough. Test drive BMW Z8 Forgotten concepts: Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge with a Nissan GT-R engine

Motorsport

We don’t talk about races too often, but we try not to miss anything interesting – thanks to Vasily Kostin! For example, here is a wonderful report from Le Mans or a super popular article about the coolest Zhiguli rally cars in the world.

Mikhail Kononchuk also revealed to us the amazing facets of motorsport. In particular, he talked about an incredible racing series from Australia, where the age difference between cars is decades. Then I learned about Nascar’s amazing tradition of presenting winners with this as a trophy… Read the material “A Watch, a Lobster, and Two Barrels”!

In addition, Mikhail followed the short but bright flash of gas turbine engines in Formula 1. And somewhere in between he wondered: why do we so rarely see hypercars in racing? And I collected the best examples when elite road cars still tried on racing liveries.

Fathers against children: motorsport from the other side of the planet Clock, lobster, two barrels Gas turbine invasion: a short and bright flash in motorsport

Loud premieres

Yes, we have collected the most important premieres of the year in a separate list. But sometimes such digests don’t include outstanding cars—and there were quite a few of them in the past year. These are the Corvette ZR-1, and the Bugatti Tourbillon, and the Ferrari 12Cilindri. The latter, although it is the successor to the 812 Superfast, is ideologically the heir to Daytona! And of course the F80 hypercar!

And how could one resist retrospectively? Asatur Bisembin decided to immerse readers in context and first wrote a review of the hypercars that came before the F80. Then he talked about the mid-engine line with a V8 – as a rule, these cars come to mind first when we mention Ferrari. And of course, after this it was impossible not to talk about the 12-cylinder front-engine models, which, perhaps, distinguish Ferrari from all supercar manufacturers.

The world before the F80: Ferrari hypercars Red evolution: what’s so special about V8-powered Ferraris? Italian classic: Ferrari with V12

Where there is a Ferrari, there is a Ford

Ford isn’t just about the GT40. Or F150. Or Focus. Or even a Model T. The history of the corporation and its legendary founder will give us amazing stories more than once. In 2024 there were three.

First, this is the story of how Henry Ford built an entire city in the Amazon jungle (and how it turned out to be a disaster). Secondly, this is a soybean epic, which even featured a soybean car. And thirdly, a story about what Ford’s ebullient energy was enough for besides cars. This includes agriculture, publishing, and even the idea of ​​a personal airplane for everyone.

The Great Collapse of Fordlandia: What Happened to Henry Ford’s City? Non-automotive projects of Henry Ford Henry Ford’s Soy Car

Out of format

It is difficult to classify these materials into any category, but I would like to mention them. Asatur Bisembin showed a survival kit that he always carries with him. The editor of Motor explains what emergency items he chose and why.

Test editor Dmitry Laskov has driven almost all cars that are officially sold in Russia. Yes, and unofficially too. In his author’s column, he posed the question: is this forced bridge between cars with internal combustion engines and electric vehicles, which we call hybrids, really good? At the end of the material there is a survey, the results of which seem both expected and funny.

Before we could blink, the legendary Lotus brand went from making minimalist (or even spartan?) sports cars for purists to a Chinese luxury brand that rolled out an electric rival to the Lamborghini Urus. Mikhail Kononchuk told what third-party projects Lotus engineers had a hand in. And this is a very unexpected list of brands from Chery to Rolls-Royce.

Survival kit: what’s in my car What’s wrong with plug-in hybrids Lotus secret projects

Let’s add three more interesting materials to this informal collection. A Ford Supervan we might never hear about again. About how hooded trucks are built in Europe. From the usual, cabover ones. And no, this is not photoshop. We also especially recommend the adventurous detective story of the Vietnamese automaker Vinfast. Which, apparently, is coming to an end.

How the Ford Supervan “racing van” appeared, disappeared and rose again Nosy trucks from Europe Vinfast: an instant startup

18 years of “Motor”

We’re lucky: tens of thousands of people come to us every day for the latest automotive news. But even more important is how many people come back to read our articles. And the “coming of age” of the publication became the occasion for one very important selection. Several times, in different years and in different countries, we were able to introduce outstanding cars of the past to their modern descendants. And feel the difference in your own skin through the decades.

You will find twelve such episodes in this material. We admit that we ourselves re-read them all with great pleasure. And then we did a quiz about our most interesting adventures over these 18 years.

The greatest cars: fathers and sons Quiz: what do you know about “Motor”? The most popular Motor materials in 2024

Together with you we move forward. In 2025, you will have many more reasons to look at Motor. We guarantee it. /m

Motor – 2023: editor’s choice The best of the year 2022: editor’s choice The best materials of the year on Motor: editor’s choice

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